According to the report by The Boston Globe, opposing teams and possible trade partners have wondered why Linececum's velocity has dropped from his “usual 96-mile-per-hour fastball.” Well, they may be wondering but his fastball hasn’t been in that range for a few seasons now. Baseball sources said earlier this season that those inquiries have stopped.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner's struggles in 2012 have been attributed to mechanical problems, but for months Lincecum and the Giants had no real answers for why he was hit hard this year. His struggles were particularly acute early in games; he allowed a major league-leading 28 first-inning runs. His final ERA was a career-high 5.18.

Lincecum’s strikeout rate was still good this season (9.19 per nine innings), but Sabean said Lincecum will have to accept a new identity because he doesn’t have the same swing-and-miss stuff he did when he was younger.

Sabean also said Lincecum will need to tweak his mechanics, something Lincecum has been unwilling to do in the past.

“This is more a function of (being) willing to accept the delivery he’s going to use to be successful,” Sabean told the Chronicle. “He’s going to have to pitch more to contact. No matter what his strikeout ratio is, he’s not going to miss many bats.”

Lincecum has said he plans to change his offseason workout routine and possibly add weight before next spring training. He’s bulked up in the past, and he also has dropped weight; in both instances he ended up pitching fine for the most part during the season.

While a long-term deal with Lincecum might not be in the Giants’ plans after next season, they certainly don’t need to panic and deal him this winter. He can still be a good starter for them in 2013.

If the Giants look to do trade him, that would mean they don't believe he is a front-line starter, but the team looking to acquire him would be expecting that kind of talent in return because Lincecum is paid as an ace. The Giants then would likely have to eat part of that $22 million, and they won’t be willing to do that.

So, expect the Giants to keep Lincecum and hope he makes the necessary adjustments to his delivery. If he does that and is successful, the Giants could still deal him, but they should only do so if they're out of the playoff race in July. Otherwise, he will continue to be one of the faces of the franchise.